Dear Administration offices of OUSD schools,
“Unlike a broken ankle, or other injuries you can feel with your hands, or see on an x-ray, a concussion is a disruption of how the brain works.” – USA Football & CDC. These words illustrate that having a concussion is harder to detect because it is not something students can see or feel without a proper examination. Students might feel something there or might have symptoms but won’t really know what it is. Therefore OUSD needs to know more about concussions to notice when students have a concussion and what to do about it. Also so students themselves know if they themselves are experiencing symptoms of a concussion or if another classmate is.
Based on research concussions should be given more attention because concussions can lead to long term effects on the brain, they can also be very fatal if hit very hard on the head, and also lots of people don’t know how to recognize a concussion or many symptoms of a concussion.
Having a concussion that is not treated effectively can lead to long term effects on the brain. For example, while reading an article titled Single Concussion May Lead to Lasting Brain Damage by Robert Preidt, a Health Day reporter who explains the symptoms of a long and short term concussion and what concussions are about and what can happen to your brain and what problems a concussion can cause, Preidt mentions, “‘After [concussion], there is true structural injury to the brain, even though we don’t see much on routine clinical imaging” (Preidt). Symptoms can sometimes get ignored or passed as something else. A concussion can also be unacknowledged because the person may seem or feel fine. OUSD needs to recognize this because if ignored it can become more serious. Preidt also explains, “Following a concussion, some people briefly lose consciousness. Other symptoms include headache, dizziness, memory loss, attention problems, depression and anxiety. Some of these symptoms may last for months or even years’” (Preidt). When a person has a concussion and they keep having symptoms and they don’t get it checked out it can have a serious outcome like the damage done to the brain can be immutable. Even when having enough knowledge of what a concussion can cause people still choose to exclude the fact that they can cause severe damage that can last years. One can indeed of course recover from a concussion but there will be parts of the brain that are injured. Therefore OUSD needs to learn about concussions because they can turn out to be very threatful to the student.
As mentioned before concussions can have long or short term effects but they can also be fatal. For instance, in a passage titled Traumatic Brain Injury & Concussion by an organization called CDC informs readers about what concussions are and what they can lead up to. Also risk factors and symptoms. CDC expresses, “Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability in the United States. From 2006 to 2014, the number of TBI-related emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths increased by 53%. In 2014, an average of 155 people in the United States died each day from injuries that include a TBI” (CDC). Having a concussion can be treated but when left untreated they can cause death, some might say that this is pseudoscience but in reality there are facts that prove and the fact that rates increased by 53% people should take it in a serious matter. When talking about concussions people say that the cause of deaths is illogical but they need to come to their consensus and accept the fact that there is a possibility that someone can die from a concussion.
Some People can’t even recognize a concussion. For example, in a survey done by Emy Pena and Amilia Charles 9th graders at Life Academy asks questions about the understanding of concussions. They interviewed Oakland residents of many ages to see what they have experienced in their age. They had 19 responses. Pena and Charles ask,
Figure 2 is titled Have you ever had a concussion n=19. It argues that since people haven’t had a concussion they might not care. This shows how many people have had a concussion.
Figure 3 is titled Should concussions be a problem in Oakland? It shows people’s opinions. It argues that people think they shouldn’t be.
(Pena and Charles). When getting these results they concluded that since people might not have had a concussion they might not think it is important, which leads to them voting that concussions shouldn’t be considered a problem in Oakland. These results show that people need to get educated about concussions whether it is schools or out of school campus.
Based on all the research from the survey and articles, the Oakland community and specifically OUSD needs to be educated on concussions because they can notice symptoms of concussions and learn what a concussion does to one’s brain. Thus, OUSD needs to bring bring this problem to attention in schools, so they know what a concussion is and the symptoms.
Aim #1 Virtual: Post on Social Media Facts Symptoms of Concussions
Noticing symptoms of concussions is important because the sooner the concussion is detected the faster it can be treated and not giving it a chance to cause more damage and it having a long term effect or even causing death. Posting some symptoms of short term or long term effect on social media can give people some small learning tips to see if someone has a concussion or if they themselves have a concussion. Also posting some of the things that are the damages the concussion can do. The post will be once every day at noon because if people wake up late and are bored they hop on social media and can see the facts. Expected impediment is people not seeing it. For supplies I will only need a phone and the research on concussions. There is no budget since people who have an account can just see it.
Aim #2 if Shelter in Place Ends: Make Copies of Pamphlets Available in Life Academy Office
These pamphlets would be made with facts and the meaning of a concussion, how to get a concussion, and many other educational facts. When making this pamphlet it will have a little song people can memorize to help them with recognizing when someone has a concussion. It can have fun facts that people can share with friends and families. Expected obstacles are people not noticing what it is or they are not interested in reading it. For supplies it will need paper, a copy machine and a pencil. There is no budget for this aim.
Aim #3 If I had no limitations (unlimited funding and access): Making an AD on Concussions
When making this ad we will use up all our information and probably make another survey to show more stats and numbers on how people need to learn about stats. This ad will be a commercial that will be on tv. We will put fun stats and songs people can memorize. Obstacles we might face are people not paying attention or ignoring it. The budget for this ad is a lot of money. The supplies are people research, a crew, and a director.
We plan on measuring the success by making another survey with more questions to see who learned and how we can improve our educational skills.
To conclude people should learn more about concussions because they can lead to death, having long term effects, and some people don’t even know what a concussion is. “Never stop learning; for when we stop learning, we stop growing”- Loyal “Jack” lewman.
Work Cited
CDC. “TBI: Get the Facts.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11 Mar. 2019, www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/get_the_facts.html.
